Update

It's been a while and I figured I'd throw up a quick update for those still reading...

I am going back on midnight shifts tomorrow night so i've been trying to rearrange my schedule again. My mom flies out on Saturday night in time for Thanksgiving. I'm definitely looking forward to her being out here, and to partake in some fun excursions.

Work is going well... just kind of plugging and chugging through it. I have had some interesting moments now that I'm on my own, but everything has been working out well. I am enjoying seeing how everything evolves out here, because it's so much different from home. For example, we are now down to around 7 hours of daylight per day. The sun "rises" after nine, and sets slightly after 4. I say "rises" because it rises behind the mountains, so you can't even really see the sun until around 11 or maybe after.

We have been finally having some snow this past week, but looks like we're going back to a clear and cold pattern this week. Although my side of town has seen some single digit temps, the airport should likely see some lows down near zero this week, with highs not making it out of the teens! Yikes.

You know, I wonder why every time I have a midnight shift it always gets really cold? Have you ever tried launching a weather balloon, tying knots with twine, and changing freezing helium tanks when it's below 15? I assure you i have never had colder fingers after messing with those helium tanks.

Anyways, I managed to shoot my first arctic hare last Sunday. It was delicious... and huge. As big as Maddy for sure. Otherwise I've been waiting for a decent snowpack around town so they can groom the cross country trails so I can get to skiing.

Maddy is doing well. We've been going to a park near my apt quite frequently, and she loves to run around in the snow and mess with the other dogs. I need to pick her up some boots though because the snow packs really tight in her paws and hurts her.

Speaking of ice.... this roads here get crazy when it snows a decent amount. It's not like home where a) when it snows it melts a couple days later... if it snows it's here to stay, and b) life goes on, we don't get the day off. By my reckoning I should have had at least 6 weeks off of work to this point. But back to the roads.... think of ice skating with a car. Luckily the subaru with studded tires does the trick extremely well, but I can assure you I am getting nowhere fast.

Well hopefully after Mom gets here I will have some cool pictures and stories for everyone, but until then I hope everyone is doing well. I am definitely missing a nice carolina fall, not to mention copious amounts of duck hunting. But being up here is not such a bad tradeoff!

Northern Lights et al.

I'm off of midnight shifts, and while I'm happy about that, my sleep schedule is a mess. I have been waking up too early, about 4am. Even so, I have seen daylight the past two days, and it has been awesome.

So here's what's been up:

When I got into work the other night... Tuesday night I think it was, the northern lights were making a brief appearance. We went up on the roof, cut the outside lights around the office, and Sam snapped a couple of pictures. It was very cool to see. I think all I said for 15 minutes were things like "man, thats really something" and "i've just never seen anything like it". Now I can usually come up with something to say in almost any situation, but I think the fact that I was talking like it was 1950 lends toward the spectacular nature of the aurora borealis. Here is one of the shots...



It was an unexpected treat. Considering we weren't anticipating seeing them at all, and that we were looking north over the city and all of the ambient light pollution, I think it's pretty cool. It was weird to actually see in person.... maybe a bit surreal.

I've had a couple of days off, and have picked up the old habit of exploring paired with hunting. In the pursuit of snowshoe hare and grouse I have failed. I went to this one place called Mackenzie Point, which is due west of Anchorage. If you could drive straight there it'd be like 15 miles, but you have to drive all the way around, which makes it more like 100 miles. It takes you through Palin country (Wasilla)... a very beautiful town indeed. It was an odd feeling getting out of the car and literally hearing no manmade noise whatsoever. I think it is a situation that very few people in this world will ever experience.

Unfortunately the snowpack was much deeper over here, so the adventure was short lived. Maddy would disappear momentarily, only to reappear for a split-second, before falling back into the snow. It was also quite chilly, and a little Boykin Spaniel is meant for the Carolina winter. Even so, here is the pic of the little rascal throwing a tantrum when I made her stop for a second




This place is composed of a bunch of small ponds and lakes, or more appropriately bogs. A lot of these little bogs formed when the glaciers retreated, but left frozen water slightly below the surface. As the water melts, the bog forms. Luckily these things were frozen solid, with about 8 inches of ice, so it was easier to navigate. Here is a picture of one of them.




I took this looking at the sun to show how low the sun angle is here. While it would appear that it was early in the morning, this was taken shortly after 11am.

Yesterday I went back to this hay flats area to try to shoot a rabbit. Man it was chilly... it couldnt have been more than 10 degrees. I saw a ton of rabbits, but what I really need is a .22 to shoot them. They are almost completely white now, and with the snow, it is a tricky pursuit. They stay in the thickest brush you could ever imagine. With the GPS in tow this time I went into the thick of it all. There are trails worn down like crazy through the alder thickets... but visibility is rarely over 10 feet. There were all sorts of tracks though, snowshoe hare, coyote, and moose (for example).

About noon the fog lifted, and revealed beautiful scenery. The fog is interesting now, because it is so cold, it is actually freezing fog. This results in the accretion of ice on pretty much everything. This is called hoarfrost. It's a beautiful thing when the sun comes up, and the hoarfrost starts to fall off of the trees. It kind of looks like it's snowing, but it's perfectly sunny!

Now, the word on the streets is that I haven't posted a picture of myself outside yet. So I have remedied that problem, which will be seen shortly. I must say it is a most ridiculous feeling to be in the middle of the woods setting up a camera to take a picture of just yourself. But here is the most substantial proof I can offer that I am, in fact, in Alaska.



Look mom, I'm being safe. I have my blaze orange vest on so no one mistakes me for some kind of two-legged game!

Finally, you may be asking yourself what I did for Halloween. That is a fine question. I took Maddy trick or treating. Now you may be asking yourself "What did she dress up as?" Well, since we watched the Olympics late night in Greenville this past summer, she has been really into gymnastics. So she dressed up as one of the Chinese gymnasts:



I think she really likes Halloween!

Note: If for some reason you have zero sense of humor and find this offensive I apologize.

So that'll be it for now... hope everyone's doing well!